Become a vigilante gardener

A common joke about the difference between a good plant and a weed is that when you give them a tug, the good plant comes up easily, the weed stays put.

That wasn't the case the other evening as I joined friends for libations at a lushly planted neighborhood pub and noticed some errant weeds had sprouted from seeds dropped by birds perching on the deck railings.

Don't jump to a conclusion here, about our getting into other peoples' business; we are regulars, and know the restaurant owner and the normally reliable gardener who takes care of planting and watering. We were just amusing ourselves.

But c'mon - poison ivy, right by our table? It had been lurking all season in the daylilies and ornamental sweet potatoes, but gave itself away this week by its brilliant, red fall color. And there was a lot of mimosa weed, which looks like little mimosa trees with tiny seed balls on the undersides of leaflets that help it proliferate so quickly it can take over a bed before you even notice it.

Anyway, when I casually reached over to pull one weed almost as an afterthought, some women at a nearby table saw me, and one got up and started pulling some herself. We turned into an impromptu village of volunteer gardeners before a friend calmed us down and got us back on the social track.

But it was OK with the owner. And I'm not averse to being a neighborhood do-gooder. I have been known to take a squirt bottle of Roundup on my daily dog walk and squirt poison ivy growing too near the walk, even in other people's yards. Without asking permission.

I guess that makes me a vigilante. But it's not much different from, say, picking up plastic bags or glass bottles thrown along paths by careless others. Neighbors chipping in to help out the overall good is what creates the neighborhood.

Back to the pub weeds. While we were doing a little close-at-hand tidying, I accidentally pulled up a little flower called Mexican petunia (Ruellia).

In spite of its tough, durable habits and pretty purple blossoms, it can spread rampantly; lots of folks consider it a weed. So, instead of tucking it back into the raised bed soil, I stuck it in a shirt pocket, and now it's in my own garden.

Does this make me a vigilante plant thief?

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Become a vigilante gardener

A common joke about the difference between a good plant and a weed is that when you give them a tug, the good plant comes up easily, the weed stays put.